


Wings on His Back

by xaleria07



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, M/M, Multi, One-Sided Love, lots of sad stuff, possible porn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-19 05:21:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2376212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xaleria07/pseuds/xaleria07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: (Soulmate!AU) In this world, when you reach the age of adulthood, you receive a tattoo that tells you something about your destined soul mate. Sousuke has always been interested in his own tattoo, a pair of beautiful angel wings on his back. He had always hoped that they represented his best friend that he’s been in love with his entire life, but when Rin finds his own soul mate, Sousuke must reserve himself to the fact that he may never find his true soul mate. That is until he meets a young man with bright green eyes who looks like he should have these angel wings on his own back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Angel Wings

**Author's Note:**

> I love soulmate!AUs, and I really wanted to write one for Soumako. So here’s my little idea. I also recently just got my first tattoo done hence why I'm kind of obsessed with tattoos. Also, I just want our swimming babies to have killer tats. 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys it and thanks for reading everyone!   
> -Xaleria

Since ever he could remember, Sousuke couldn’t wait to receive his soul mate tattoo. He remembered seeing his parents’ tattoos as a child, his mother having a chain around her wrist and his father having an anchor over his heart. Anytime his mother placed her arm around his father from behind, her chain connected with his anchor. 

Sousuke remembered one night when his mother was tucking him in, and Sousuke had brushed his fingers against his mother’s tattoo in curiosity. She smiled at him, brushing his hair back from his forehead affectionately as she spoke, “Do you know why we get these tattoos, Sousuke?”

The little boy shook his head, looking up at his mother expectantly as she went on to explain, “You see, Sousuke, in this world everyone has what we call a ‘soul mate’. A person your destiny is tied to. So when you become of age in this world, you’ll receive a tattoo that will tell you something special about your soul mate, and hopefully, one day, you’ll find them like your father and I have found each other.”

“So, what does your tattoo mean then, mom?” Sousuke asked, tracing the shapes of the chain links on her wrist.

His mother looked fondly at her own tattoo. “It means that before I met your father, I was this weightless chain, just floating around without any real direction. And your father was my anchor, my weight to pull me down and give me a purpose and sense of belonging. He is what keeps me grounded and confident in myself.”

“But how did you know that dad was supposed to be your soul mate?” Sousuke wondered.

“I’m not really sure, Sousuke,” his mother honestly answered. “There was just some part of me that knew he was my soul mate. That our tattoos spoke to each of us about each other, and that we were meant to be connected.”

“I wish I could get my tattoo sooner,” Sousuke mumbled, frowning and wondering how much longer it would be until he reached adulthood.

His mother laughed, ruffling Sousuke’s hair, “Don’t worry, Sousuke, you’ll get it soon enough. Now you better get to sleep.”

“Okay, mom…” His mother kissed his forehead, wishing him a good night before she left his room.

Sousuke turned over on his bed, wondering what his tattoo would look like when he finally got it. He really wanted to know who his soul mate was, and he couldn’t wait to meet that person.

* * *

“Are you excited, Sousuke?” The raven-haired teen smiled as his best friend threw his arm around his neck.

“It’s just a tattoo, Rin,” Sousuke playfully pushed his friend away from him who only laughed and attempted to ruffle his hair instead.

“Yeah, but you’ve been waiting for this day since ever you were eight,” Rin told him teasingly. “Ahh, man, I wish I could get my tattoo done too.”

“Next year, you’ll be able to,” Sousuke reassured him.

“It seems so far away though,” Rin mumbled. Sousuke only chuckled, peeking out of the corner of his eye at his best friend. Secretly, he couldn’t wait for Rin to get his tattoo either.

Sousuke had been in love with his best friend, Matsuoka Rin, since ever he laid eyes on him. The happy sparkle that always seemed to be in Rin’s ruby-colored eyes, and the bright smile that would appear on his face made Sousuke’s heart flutter every time he saw them. Sousuke treasured each and every moment he spent with Rin, and Sousuke had always wished that when he finally got his tattoo, it would be a symbol for Rin. And when Rin finally got his, it would be a symbol for Sousuke.

The two finally reached the city’s tattoo parlor, and suddenly Sousuke felt like his heart was going to burst from his chest. As excited as he was, he was also nervous too.

What would the tattoo look like? What would it be feel like to get it done? He hoped that no matter what it was, Sousuke would just be able to connect it with Rin.

“You ready, Sousuke?” Rin asked as he looked at his friend, his hand already on the handle of the door to the tattoo parlor.

Sousuke smiled at his friend, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

* * *

 

“Alright, you’re done.”

Sousuke had to let out a sigh of relief when the tattoo artist finally told him that. He had been a bit surprised when the tattoo artist informed him that his tattoo would be going on his back, and that it was actually quite a large and detailed piece. The process had been slightly painful, but nothing that Sousuke couldn’t tolerate. However, he was glad that he only had to do this once.

“Here, you can use this mirror to look at it,” the man handed Sousuke a hand mirror and motioned to a large wall mirror as well.

Sousuke stood up, his back feeling raw and stinging still, but he held the mirror up and looked at the reflection on the wall mirror. What he saw took his breath away.

On his back were beautiful angel wings, stemming from his spine and arching over his shoulder blades before trailing down his back. It almost looked like they would actually burst out from his back and take him into flight. There was so much detail put into the feathers that Sousuke also felt like that if he reached out and touched them, they would almost feel soft to the touch.

His tattoo was better than he could have ever imagined.

“What do you think the wings mean?” Rin asked him when they finally left the tattoo parlor. He had been able to peek at Sousuke’s tattoo before the artist wrapped it up and then told Sousuke how to clean it and handed him healing ointment to apply.

“My guess is that it must mean my soul mate must be some kind of angel,” Sousuke shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. But again he glanced at Rin, who seemed to be deep in thought. Surely, his tattoo had to have been about Rin. Because to him, Rin was an angel, one that Sousuke was deeply in love with.

Sousuke could only hope that maybe he was right.


	2. Disconnected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Soulmate!AU) In this world, when you reach the age of adulthood, you receive a tattoo that tells you something about your destined soul mate. Sousuke has always been interested in his own tattoo, a pair of beautiful angel wings on his back. He had always hoped that they represented his best friend that he’s been in love with his entire life, but when Rin finds his own soul mate, Sousuke must reserve himself to the fact that he may never find his true soul mate. That is until he meets a young man with bright green eyes who looks like he should have these angel wings on his own back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s been a long time and no update. ;__; Senior year of college sucks. And I know this isn’t long, but I hope to get the next chapter up sooner. Enjoy everyone!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Free! or any of its characters.

_“Rin,” Sousuke called after his best friend whose back was turned to him, but it was almost like Rin couldn’t hear him. “Rin!”_

_Sousuke desperately tried to reach out and touch Rin’s shoulder, to make Rin look at him. But Sousuke stopped short when he realized there was another hand already on his friend’s shoulder. His eyes following up to the arm, Sousuke grimaced when he saw the tattoo of a cherry blossom tree spiraling around the upper arm of the young man attached to Rin, whose own tattoo of a clear blue wave circled around his forearm._

_Sousuke felt like he had been punched in the gut seeing the two of them together, smiling at each other as they held hands. Their tattoos pressed up against each other, the cherry blossom tree looking like it bloomed up from the waves, its graceful petals falling. It was like they completed each other, which they did._

_At that moment Sousuke had to turn away. He couldn’t bear to look at it anymore. Because then he would have to admit that Rin didn’t belong to him after all._

* * *

The blaring sound of his alarm clock is what awoke Sousuke from his slumber. Growling angrily at the accursed thing, Sousuke slammed his hand down on the snooze button, the clock making a slight broken beeping sound before it shut up. The offensive block, red numbers on the clock told him it was 6 AM, about time he got up for his morning run. 

He laid in his bed for a moment though, going over the hazy memory of his dream. It seemed like it had been just yesterday when Rin had brought his soul mate over to meet Sousuke, although that had been quite a few years ago. But Sousuke could remember everything clearly.

Nanase Haruka, that had been the young man’s name. The year after Rin received his soul mate tattoo, he had met Haru at his swimming club and the two had automatically clicked. It didn’t take long for everyone to say that they were soul mates.  But Sousuke didn’t want to believe it.

He _refused_ to believe it.

But it was hard to deny the look that Rin had in his eyes whenever he looked at Haruka. It was the same look Sousuke had in his eyes whenever he looked at Rin. Eyes that showed how much love and fascination they held for that other person.

So Sousuke had done what any reasonable person would have done for the one that they loved. He buried his feelings, deciding that it was better to just see Rin be happy with the one he loved than to be torn apart from having to decide between his best friend and his soul mate.

But sometimes, Sousuke wished that Rin had picked him.

With a heavy sigh, Sousuke decided he had stalled in bed enough. So he forced himself to get up, yawning as he shuffled towards his bathroom. He quickly went through his morning routine, brushing his teeth, shaving, and changing into sweatpants and his favorite blue athletic jacket. He also made sure to grab his iPod, cell phone and water bottle before he slipped on his running shoes and went out the door, locking it behind him. 

Usually, Sousuke would run two or three miles, but today he ran five, feeling the strain on his muscles and liking the fact that this was a good distraction. His music pounded in his ears, it being one of his favorite rock songs. He pushed himself to his limit, feeling his heart pounding in his chest.

After a while, he finally took a break, taking in deep breaths as he stretched out his legs. He looked out onto the beach coastline that he had been running beside, feeling a bit calm.

His little reverie was broken though by the feel of his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. Sousuke paused his music, pulling out his earbuds and picking up his phone.

“Hello?”

“ _Sousuke!_ ”

Sousuke flinched slightly at the sound of his name in that familiar voice. “Rin…what’s up?”

“ _You’re not even going to ask me how I am, you jerk?_ ” Rin sarcastically teased on the other line.

“Oh, I’m sure you’re just fine swimming with your lover over there,” Sousuke shot back, trying to sound teasing but the corners of his eyes tightening a bit in bitter jealousy.

“ _Haha, very funny._ ” Rin snorted. _“Anyway, I actually called you because there was something I wanted to ask you._ ”

“What is it?” Sousuke’s voice softened immediately, his body naturally relaxing as he fell into the comfort zone he was in every time he spent with Rin.

“ _You remember Haru’s friend, Tachibana Makoto, right? The tall brunet one?_ ”

Sousuke shuffled through his memory, trying to put a face to the name. He faintly remembered briefly meeting a brunet when he had first helped Rin move into Haru’s home. But that was it. There was nothing really distinctive about him that Sousuke remembered. “Sort of, why?”

“ _Well, Makoto actually got a new job to be a swim coach at a high school in Tokyo, but he doesn’t know the area very well and needs a place to stay. I mentioned that you live out there and that you were looking for a roommate, so I offered him to give you a call. So what do you think? Would it be alright to give him your number?_ ”

Sousuke thought about it, pacing in a small circle. Although he disliked Haru and wasn’t too keen on the idea of being buddies with any friend of his, Sousuke had to admit that he did need a roommate. Rent in Tokyo wasn’t cheap, and Sousuke could barely afford to pay for his rent right now. Having a roommate would definitely help him out. And it wasn’t like Sousuke held a grudge against this guy, just Haru. So what harm was it?

“Um, yeah, that should be fine,” Sousuke responded, rubbing the temples of his forehead as he thought about it. “Just tell him to give me a call.” Sousuke heard Rin sigh with relief on the other end and had to admit that it made him happy to help out Rin.

“ _Thanks, Sousuke. This means a lot to me and Haru._ ” Sousuke grimaced at the sound of Haru’s name, but forced himself to grin as to not sound upset.

“Yeah, it’s no problem. I’ll talk to you later, Rin.” Sousuke hung up after Rin said goodbye, letting out a heavy sigh as he gripped his cell phone tightly in his hand. He looked back out at the ocean, frowning as he tried to think back as to who exactly this Makoto was.                                            

What exactly had he just gotten himself into?


	3. Roomies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Soulmate!AU) In this world, when you reach the age of adulthood, you receive a tattoo that tells you something about your destined soul mate. Sousuke has always been interested in his own tattoo, a pair of beautiful angel wings on his back. He had always hoped that they represented his best friend that he’s been in love with his entire life, but when Rin finds his own soul mate, Sousuke must reserve himself to the fact that he may never find his true soul mate. That is until he meets a young man with bright green eyes who looks like he should have these angel wings on his own back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY I got this chapter done. I was struggling hardcore guys with this chapter because of college. But yay! I’m glad I was able to get it done, and just in time for Halloween! Happy Halloween everyone! 
> 
> And I’m sorry that updates for this story will be sporadic. My schedule isn’t very conducive to writing. But I hope you enjoy everyone!
> 
> Also, as always, thanks for reading guys and thank you for all your lovely support! 
> 
> -Xaleria
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Free! or any of its characters.

The few days later, Sousuke was just finishing dinner when his cell phone buzzed, signaling he had a call. He peeked at the screen, frowning when he didn’t recognize the number right away. Picking it up, Sousuke tucked his cell between his cheek and shoulder, “Hello?”

“ _Ah…Yamazaki-kun?_ ” a kind voice said on the other end. “ _This is Tachibana Makoto. I’m friends with Haru?_ ”

At the sound of that man’s name, Sousuke remembered the request Rin had made of him a few days ago. “Oh yeah, Tachibana, I’m guessing Rin gave you my number.”

“ _Yes,_ ” Makoto sounded relieved on the other end. _“He said to call you about possibly becoming your roommate?_ ”

“Yeah, I’ve been looking for one for a while, and he told me about how you got a new job out here and needed a place and whatnot.” Sousuke leaned against his kitchen counter as he grabbed to hold his cell phone with his hand. Although he couldn’t really remember that much about Makoto, he didn’t seem like a bad guy. “Is there a time you can come up to Tokyo to meet with me and check out the apartment? We can discuss details about splitting rent and all that then if you’re interested too.”

“ _Yeah, I can definitely come up. Um, does this weekend work for you?_ ”

“Sure,” Sousuke replied, going through his head real quick about what he had to do this weekend. “How about Saturday, at 10? We can meet for coffee first to get to know each other a little better, and then I’ll show you around the area for a bit before the apartment. You know, so you can see if you like it.”

“ _That sounds great, Yamazaki-kun. Just let me know which coffee shop, and I’ll meet you there._ ”

“Great, see you then.”

“ _Mhm._ ”

And with that, the two of them hung up, and Sousuke felt a little bit better now about his agreement with Rin. Makoto seemed like he’d be a decent roommate, and it sounded like they could get along. Honestly, even if they didn’t end up getting along, it didn’t matter to Sousuke as long as Makoto did his fair share of chores and didn’t fall behind on rent. And, of course, also if he stayed out of Sousuke’s business. If there was one thing Sousuke detested, it was a nosy roommate.

Hopefully Tachibana wasn’t that type.

Letting out another heavy sigh, Sousuke finished washing his dishes before heading to his room to get ready for work.

* * *

 

"Sou-su-ke~!”

The raven grunted when he felt someone heavy lean against his back, milky white elbows bent over his shoulders as the person leaned his face forward, a sly smile on it and a mischievous glint in his light purple eyes. “Get off, Kisumi. You’re fucking heavy.”

“Aww, that hurts my feelings, Sousuke,” the pink-haired man feigned hurt, dramatically getting up and placing his arm over his forehead like a scorned lover. “I thought we were friends!”

Sousuke only snorted in response, returning to his workout as he pulled the weighted cable pull with his right arm. Not bothered in the slightest with being rebuffed, Kisumi only cheerfully sat down at the machine next to Sousuke, setting it to a weight and starting some repetitions.

“So~” Kisumi drawled out as he pointedly looked at Sousuke. “I heard from Rin that Makoto might be your new roommate.”

“You know Tachibana?” Sousuke arched in eyebrow in curiosity.

“Mhm, I went to the same middle school as him and Haru,” Kisumi explained. “Because Makoto is so tall, I was trying for the longest time to get him to join the basketball team with me, but he wanted to swim with Haru instead. And Makoto always seems quiet at first, but he’s a pretty cool guy. I think you guys would get along.”

“Hm,” was all Sousuke said in response.

“By the way, Sousuke, are you free tonight?”

Sousuke narrowed his eyes in suspicion at Kisumi, “Why are you asking?”

“Well~”

“Spit it out, Kisumi.”

“Alright, alright,” Kisumi sighed, holding his hands up innocently. “There’s a goukon happening tonight and all of the single guys from the department are going. We were hoping you would join.”

“No.”

“Oh come on! You didn’t even think about it!”

“I don’t need to think about it,” Sousuke firmly stated, the weights of the machine clacking against each other as he finished his set.

“But Sousukeeeee,” Kisumi dragged out in a whining voice, “What if tonight is the night you meet, you know, _the one_?”

Sousuke grimaced at that. He knew that in this world, most people went through their lives with the goal of meeting _the one_. Their other half, their soul mate, the person that would have a tattoo that would match theirs. So others found it weird when Sousuke seemed to turn down every chance to go out and meet people when his soul mate could be among them.

Kisumi especially was growing concerned about him. He knew about Sousuke’s long time crush on Rin—Rin was really the only one who was oblivious to it—and he also knew that Rin and Sousuke had not ended up being soul mates. Kisumi thought if he introduced Sousuke to different people, Sousuke would be able to get over Rin and find his true soul mate. But Sousuke wasn’t as enthusiastic about that.

“It wouldn’t hurt to go to one goukon, Sousuke,” Kisumi pointed out, huffing as he watched Sousuke blatantly ignore him and get up from the machine, wiping the sweat on his face with his towel.

“There’s no point in going; I’m not going to find my soul mate,” Sousuke responded. “You should know that.”

Kisumi couldn’t only sigh sadly as he watched Sousuke walk away and head to the showers, the tips of his angel wings peeking out from his tank top. “You’re the only one who thinks that way, Sousuke. There’s no way those angel wings represented Rin at all.”

* * *

 

Looking around the coffee shop with little interest, Sousuke double checked his watch again. It was ten minutes pass the time Makoto was supposed to meet him. Did something happen? He decided that he would wait a little longer, at least giving the guy another ten minutes just in case something had come up.

Sipping his coffee and glancing around, Sousuke was surprised to see so many people in the shop showing off their tattoos. Usually, unless your tattoo was in a place that wasn’t normally covered by clothes, most people kept their tattoos private. After all, they were a personal thing. It seemed that more of the younger crowd liked to show theirs off though, which Sousuke guessed was another way of searching for your soul mate.

There were various tattoos all in different unique designs. Some were all black, some were colorful, some were a mixture of both. People had small ones and large ones. The most interesting that Sousuke saw was a woman who had what looked like a section of a map spread across her upper chest. He faintly wondered what the tattoo symbolized about the other person.

But before he could come up with any guesses, he heard the chime of the bell attached to the door, signaling that someone had come in, and Sousuke turned to see who it was.

It was a young man around Sousuke’s age. He was tall and muscular, not overly so but the muscles still defined. His brown hair fell over his bright green eyes in casual disarray, and Sousuke had to admit that he was certainly eye-catching, some of the girls in the café already looking in the new guy’s direction. It was then Sousuke spotted the red plaid shirt that Makoto had said would be the sign that it was him.

“Tachibana!” Sousuke called out just loud enough to be heard over the crowd, waving his hand at the brunet. He reacted to the sound of his name, his eyes glancing in Sousuke’s direction and kind smile spreading across his face.

“Yamazaki-kun! Sorry I’m late, I got a bit lost. Tokyo is so much bigger than Iwatobi,” Makoto said sheepishly when he finally approached the table Sousuke was at.

“That’s okay, I wasn’t waiting too long,” Sousuke reassured as Makoto sat down next to him. “So how have you been?”

“Good,” Makoto replied, “And you?”

“Alright, I guess,” Sousuke shrugged. The conversation awkwardly died afterwards and the two of them just smiled politely at each other as they wondered what they should say. “Um…so…”Sousuke finally spoke, “Rin told me you got a job at a high school over here. Why don’t you tell me a bit about it?”

“Oh yes,” Makoto seemed to brighten up at that topic, going on to tell Sousuke about his job at Sakuramachi Senior High which wasn’t too far away from Sousuke’s apartment. He would be taking over as the head swim coach there and hoped that he would be able to have the team compete at regionals and nationals. When he was finished talking about himself, Makoto proceeded to ask Sousuke a little about himself as well.

“Well, I’m actually a physical therapist,” Sousuke told him. “I work in the rehabilitation center at the University of Tokyo Hospital.”

“Wow, that’s really impressive, Yamazaki-kun,” Makoto murmured.

“It’s not really,” Sousuke muttered shyly, not really the kind to be braggy. “But anyway, you want to check out the apartment right? Why don’t we head over there and on the way I can show you around the neighborhood.”

“That would be great, thank you, Yamazaki-kun!”

The two of them proceeded to leave the café, chatting about little things about themselves, getting more comfortable with each other. Kisumi had been right, Sousuke soon noted. Makoto was a pretty chill guy, and they surprisingly had a few things in common. They both liked similar music artists and books, played the same kinds of video games, and they both appreciated personal space and alone time. But there were also some differences although nothing major. Makoto was a morning person whereas Sousuke was completely nocturnal. Makoto admitted he couldn’t cook much to save his life while Sousuke was pretty darn good at it. And Makoto was absolutely terrified of anything horror-related while Sousuke loved the genre. But it was good that they didn’t have too much in common, Sousuke wasn’t entirely sure if he would be able to get along with someone who was just like him.

“So here we are,” Sousuke said as he and Makoto finally reached his apartment complex. It wasn’t the most luxurious, but it was certainly a nice apartment complex that was probably more costly than others. It was about 15 stories high, and Sousuke told Makoto that he was on the seventh floor.

“It’s a pretty quiet complex, mostly working professionals here with some families and older folks,” Sousuke explained when he and Makoto reached the apartment and went inside. “To be honest, for this nice of 2LDK in the city, our rent is fairly cheap. Split amongst the two of us, it would be about 92,500 yen each.”

Makoto nodded in agreement, looking around at the apartment. The entrance way had doors that lead to the bathroom and small coat closet. Once actually inside the apartment, the living, kitchen, and dining room were combined together in one large central space. There wasn’t too much in the living room, just a couch, TV stand with a flat screen, and a large shelf filled to the brim with music CDs and movies. Off from the living room, there were two separate doorways across from each other that Makoto guessed lead to the bedrooms.

“That’s my room to the left, yours is on the right,” Sousuke pointed out as he walked up to the bedroom and opened the door to show Makoto.

The room was larger than Makoto thought it would be and already had a bedframe and small wooden desk in the corner of the room. There was also a large window on the way across from the doorway that had a pretty decent view of the city.

“So,” Sousuke started. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s great, Yamazaki-kun!” Makoto turned to Sousuke, smiling excitedly. “If you don’t mind having me as a roommate, I’d be more than happy to move in next week.”

“Yeah, that’d be no problem at all. Why don’t we go speak to the landlord about it now?”

“Sure!”

And with that, Sousuke let Makoto head to the entryway as he followed behind. As he walked behind Makoto, Sousuke noticed that Makoto didn’t have a visible tattoo. He wondered briefly where Makoto’s tattoo was, and what the tattoo looked like. Makoto seemed like the kind of guy girls would describe as a sweetheart, so Sousuke had to wonder what exactly kind of partner would suit him. And what kind of tattoo would describe him too?

“You okay, Yamazaki-kun?”

Sousuke was broken from his thoughts as he looked up at Makoto, who looked a little concerned. “Ah, yeah, I’m fine. And you know, you don’t have to call me by my last name. We’re the same age after all. Just Sousuke is fine.”

“Then you’ll have to call me Makoto,” the brunet responded likewise.

“Alright then, Makoto, please take care of me.” Sousuke reached out his hand which Makoto took and shook firmly.

“Thank you, Sousuke, please take care of me too.”


End file.
